As hard as it is for me to believe I am back in Buenos Aires after 27 years. Our first day has been amazing, strange and surreal all at once. After telling Bridget that it never snows in Buenos Aires, what happens, it snows for the first time since the 1920's. Did somebody say Global Warming? We are both trying to thaw out after a busy day outdoors. I will let Bridget tell you a little bit about her day and then I will tell you a little bit more about my first day in B.A.

Buenos Dias! well it's bridget here in our apartment. i'm freezing cold! its like 3 degrees celcius here. our flight was good, i took a dramamine and slept through most of it, dad on the otherhand bobbed his head to the music on his ipod... THE ENTIRE FLIGHT! we breezed through customs and immigration and found our bags and driver fairly quick. now we're gonna relax and unpack (not that there is anywhere to unpack, not even one dresses... just a big mahogony trunk). once we unpack the camera i'll take some pictures of our apartment. Hasta la vista.

Hello, I'm back, our flight here was long and arduous as expected. I wasn't able to sleep but thank god for the IPod, my playlist is about five hours long and I went through it twice and killed the battery. What a great gift, thank you Terri!! We were met at the airport, where we breezed through, by Alejandro who took us to our apartment in the Recoleta. It was strangely quiet and dark in Buenos Aires during today's independance day holiday. The Sun doesn't rise till after 8:00 A.M. making things even weirder in the morning. We got to the apartment quickly and completed check-in procedures before 9:30 A.M. The apartment is in a nice area in walking distance to the center city and other sites. It is an old building with an old fashioned gate elevator which gives Bridget the creeps. The room is small but adequate for our needs, we had to get a little creative to figure out where to store our things. We bought some hangars at the supermarket and we are now in good shape. The room has a full kitchen, TV, Internet access, telephone, a full bathroom and a nice bed. I passed out for several hours on it this afternoon. I think that the place is perfect because it is also a residential neiborhood where you get a good taste of everyday B.A. life. After settling in we went out to explore our neiborhood and walked towards the Recoleta Cemetary. I was a little disoriented and it took me some time to get my bearings. My grandfather's Tailor shop is not far from here and I recognized some of the sights but this is a neiborhood that I never really knew well so I am still mixed up directionally but Bridget has already scoped things out pretty well and knows the immediate area better than me. At noon time we were both pretty hungry and found a nice pizzeria/bar across from the cemetary. Bridget had an individual Pizza with sausage that was cooked in a wood burning oven, it was delicious and she loved it. I had several empanadas that were also cooked in the wood burning oven. I always had a preference for my mothers fried empanadas but after eating these I am afraid that I have to say "watch out Nelly". These oven cooked empanadas were exquisite. The meat filled was not as good as Nelly's but the chicken, ham and cheese and humita (corn filled)were to die for. We then headed to a local grocery store to buy supplies for the apartment. "COTO" is a pretty big supermarket only half-way around the block from our apartment. They have all kinds of great foods and things. I bought some "Sandwiches de Miga" which I haven't eaten since I was last here and some dried sausage. bridget loaded up on her favorite junk food items. We went back to our apartment where I crashed for the next four hours. We headed out for the evening at around 7:30 P.M. and low and behold it is snowing outside but mixed with some rain. Bridget was trying to tell me that it was snowing from the apartment window and I told het that she was crazy. When we got outside I couldn't believe my eyes it was coming down pretty good with just a little bit of rain mixed in. Although we we thought we were pretty well dressed for the weather we really weren't nor was anyone else for that matter. Everybody on the street was in awe of the snow and were out taking pictures. Little children were playing by sticking their tongues out and catching the big flakes. They were having so much fun. We were in the meantime little by little freezing our asses off as we walked towards the center city. By New York standards this was really not much to speak about but it was enough to coat cars and leave a dusting in places. It kept coming down through the evening something like a cold December rain when it is on the fringe of turning to snow and once you are wet and the cold sinks into your bones, it takes a while to get warmed up. I am still waiting. We made it to dinner at the "Palacio de la Papa Frita" our goal for the evening and I was not let down. We walked in frozen and wet and were attended by a very nice waiter but we were only able to get half warmed-up. That did not stop us from chowing down on broiled provoleta, the most scrumptious Argentine steak and the without parallel souffle french fries. Bridget and I wiped out a whole tray of them. Stuffed we headed back by cab to the apartment where with one eye I am writing this evenings piece while Bridget is already crashed on the bed. We'll get some more pictures of the day uploaded in the morning. A great and surreal first day in Buenos Aires!!!